Social media platforms are not immune to the continuous evolution of technology. If you are one of the 2.7 billion users of Facebook, you have been experiencing a new layout over the past few weeks. Maybe you have adapted and embraced the change already. Perhaps you are continuously reverting back to your comfort zone of the old layout every 48 hours. Wherever you find yourself on implementing the latest update to the design of Facebook, there are more changes on the horizon for the social media platform.
Facebook and Mark Zuckerberg are no strangers to the political spotlight. Congress subpoenaed Zuckerberg in 2018 after finding that he and his closest Facebook partners exploited user data to leverage large financial gains. Whether Zuckerberg learned his lesson remains to be seen. However, we do know Facebook will be rolling out a new set of policies which will be implemented on October 1st, 2020.
Upon logging into Facebook a few weeks back, users were confronted with this message in reference to the policy update launching October 1st. It looks as if Zuckerberg and his team are taking it into their own hands to remove information and content they deem violent, SPAM or malicious before it can pass through the social media algorithm. However, before the October 1st date arrives, we are already seeing some form of censorship across the platform.
Facebook Groups
Since the launch of Facebook Groups in October 2010, the conversational pocket of Facebook has allowed users to connect with one another outside of the timeline and news feed, thus allowing users to converse in privacy. In its infancy, Facebook Groups was a place for like-minded individuals to connect and share ideas on a more personal level, without having to be friends with one another through personal profiles. Many have also found the feature to be an easy way to circumvent the clumsiness of an email chain or group chat.
However, Facebook Groups have since evolved due to the motives of some users. Political and radical groups have used these secret social media groups to organize and, at times, establish chaos within a city or event. Facebook administration has been removing groups that have no clear intent other than to promote violence and radicalize.
Business Pages
Even with the large social footprint Facebook has, they have not been immune to staffing issues over the global pandemic. Although Zuckerberg said employees were going to work from home for the foreseeable future in May, there have been issues with the the platform’s “Business Support.” Over the past six months with working from home, Facebook’s communication with users has slowed. Users are also seeing their Business Page being removed without warning, and often there is no way to communicate with a Facebook representative to resolve the issues and republish the page.
Political Advertising
Previously, the way to avoid political ads was to not turn on your TV from September to election night. Over the last decade, with the emergence of social media and streaming services, it is much harder to avoid political mud-throwing campaigns. Facebook has developed a new policy to curb the political advertising increase leading up to November 3rd. In early September, Facebook implemented a new policy to only accept political ads submitted before October 27th. However, this does not mean if you are scrolling through Facebook, you will not see a political ad in the one-week span before the election. The policy is a way to prevent a last-minute rush to affect voters who are undecided.
As we move towards the October 1st policy update, it is very clear: Facebook does not want to have fingers pointed at them anymore from governing bodies or the media. Facebook is taking it upon themselves to decide what is right and wrong on their platform.
If you or your company has experienced issues with Facebook Groups, Facebook Ads, Facebook Business Manager or are having a tough time with the new layout, we are here to help. Contact Baer Performance Marketing for a personalized approach on how to adapt to the constant evolution of social media platforms.
Sources
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/09/03/facebooks-ban-on-new-political-ads-wont-change-anything.html
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/26/tech/facebook-zuckerberg-content-ad-policies/index.html
